Former champions Louis Oosthuizen and Jordan Spieth sparkled in the morning sunshine to set the pace in the first round of the 149th British Open at Royal St George’s on Thursday.
South African Oosthuizen, the winner in 2010, made six birdies in a flawless 64 to finish on six-under par, one shot ahead of American Spieth, champion in 2017.
Brian Harman matched compatriot Spieth with a 65 to share second place, one clear of Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, South African Dylan Frittelli, Frenchman Benjamin Hebert and Americans Webb Simpson and Stewart Cink, another former champion.
The 2020 tournament was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic but up to 32,000 fans will be allowed in each day this year as part of a government test event.
“The fans are fantastic here,” Spieth told reporters. “They’re just the best in golf. Very knowledgeable. It was really great to have them back and have what feels like normalcy when we teed off on the first hole.”
Oosthuizen, 38, struck his irons beautifully to pick up three birdies around the turn and added three more on the closing holes to make a strong start to his bid for a second major title.
“Probably in my mind it was the perfect round I could have played,” he told reporters. “I didn’t make many mistakes. When I had good opportunities for birdie, I made the putts. So, yeah, just a very good solid round.”
England’s Justin Rose, Danny Willett, Andy Sullivan and Jack Senior carded 67s along with South African Justin Harding, German Marcel Siem, Americans Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler, and South Korean An Byeong-Hun.
It was a tough day for 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau who battled to a roller-coaster round of 71.
DeChambeau appeared to have worked out the undulating fairways when he collected three consecutive birdies from the 12th but two more dropped shots left him well off the pace.
World No.1 Dustin Johnson started with a solid 68 and defending champion Shane Lowry of Ireland carded 71.
Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy ground out a level-par 70, mixing four birdies and four bogeys as the wind picked up late in the day, but the Northern Irishman’s problems paled beside those of Phil Mickelson.
The 51-year-old American, the oldest to win a major, racked up eight bogeys and a double-bogey at the last in an ugly 80.
